Never Too Late
by Jasper's Southern Cherry
Summary: Bella's birthday turned into a complete disaster. Five years later, Jasper comes across some shocking information about his old mistress. What is Bella's part in it? Can Jasper save his true mate from the darkness in her own heart? AU
1. Prologue

**A/N: JASPER'S SOUTHERN BELLE AND JASPER'S CHERRY HAVE DECIDED TO CREATE A COMBINED ACCOUNT FOR THEIR COLLABORATIONS. THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS WILL REMAIN ON EACH ACCOUNT, BUT UPDATES WILL BE HERE AND ONLY HERE.**

PROLOGUE

Everything was going exactly as planned. They all thought that Jasper was after Bella's blood and Edward was trying to protect her, not the other way around. They didn't know that Edward had the bloodlust and Jasper was only trying to stop Edward. They wouldn't believe him anyways, Edward had been around longer, they trusted him more.

We all knew that.

They would never assume that something was wrong; not when Bella was still so infatuated with Edward. He used his ability to lure his prey to him as a way to get Bella's infatuation. He even helped me to keep her away from Jasper, even if he didn't know it.

He wanted her to himself, ignoring Jasper's love for her. He would only put up with Emmett and Carlisle's presence around her as Emmett had become her brother and she was always harming herself, so Carlisle's presence was needed as her doctor.

My thoughts suddenly became images of one of those nights, the only thing that would _definitely_ keep Edward out of my mind. He wouldn't dare listen into a mind unless he wanted those mental images stuck in his head for the rest of eternity, thanks to our advanced minds.

He wouldn't know what hit him, though I think they're getting close to figuring me out. Jasper has been straying further away from where I want him and Edward's beginning to "dazzle" that stupid human even more because he's afraid that she will slip away from him before he can finish feeding off of her eventually.

"It's safe to return," Carlisle's voice came from the house.

We all returned to the house, while Jasper waited outside. He wouldn't dare go near Bella in fear that everyone would go after him for attacking her. She was given one of Esme's shirts to change into, while the rest of us waited. As soon as she was gone, I would suggest that Jasper go visit Peter and Charlotte. He need to get away from _her_. It would keep him as far away as possible until Edward had finally finished _her_ off. Then, everything could return to normal.

"How's Jasper?" Bella asked, concern in her voice.

"He's very unhappy with himself. It's all so much more of a challenge for him, and he hates feeling weak."

"It's not his fault. You'll tell him that I'm not mad at him, not at all, won't you?"

"Of course." _Not._

I smirked as Edward led the stupid human out of the house. Before I could stop myself, I muttered, "He's meant for you, but you will never have him."

I watched as everyone turned to stare at me. That's when I knew it was all over.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

**Jasper's POV**

Five years. Five fucking years. I still don't know how that bitch kept me from her for so long. How was it that she was able to draw out our time together and keep me from my mate while we sorted through our divorce? She got everything, not like I cared that she had all those things, all I cared about was having her back. This time, no one would stand in my way, no one would stop us from being together. No bitch who thought she could get away with trying to control the major ever survived. There was nothing more that I wanted now than to find her.

I had been traveling every state in the country trying to find her. I finally called Peter and Charlotte for help. We decided we would meet in Texas to talk because Peter had said he had gotten some information. The fucker probably wanted to talk me into taking a break, for a few months or even a few years. He knew that I wouldn't stop searching for her, but it wouldn't stop him from trying.

Seeing both Peter and Charlotte in front of me, I had no choice but to stop. Though I could take them out if they tried to stop me. They were my brother and sister, I couldn't consciously harm them; roughing them up, though, was a different story all together. As soon as they told me what information they had, I would be gone again to track my mate. That bitch tried to stop me and now she was in hiding. Fearing that I would find her and tear her to shreds. However, my mind was not set on her, instead set on finding her, my mate, again. When I _did_ find my mate, I _would_ be going after that bitch. She would pay.

I tried returning to Forks, only to find that she was gone; same with Phoenix and Jacksonville. I had begun to travel all over the continent to track my mate down, to take her as mine. She wasn't good enough for that bastard. He only wanted her for her blood or any human or vampire she came across. She was mine alone and I would kill anyone else who tried to take her from me. No one messed with Major Jasper Whitlock and got away with it, not even the Volturi and they were well aware to keep their distance from me.

"This had better be good," I growled at them, letting my anger flow from me.

"There's been talk, Jasper," Peter calmly said, not flinching at my anger; he was too used to it from our time in the South together. "There's a rise in the south. Whoever is in charge has become almost unstoppable. They've claimed almost the entire area."

I raised an eyebrow. "This has nothing to do with the information I asked you to gather, Peter." I didn't want to hear about this stupid shit. My anger was growing, the things they said were impossible.

"It began with Maria's army," Charlotte said, in a low voice. This was very intriguing, but my first priority was to find her. I would pay more attention to this information as soon as she was back with me. I turned my back to walk away from those I truly considered my siblings.

"Vampires are fleeing the south, Jasper. They say that this vampire is equal only to the major," she said, again in a low voice.

This made me stop in my tracks, releasing a snarl, causing the birds in the area to take flight. _How dare they claim that this vampire is equal to myself, no one was equal to the major and they knew it_. My mate would be safe for a while longer while I searched out this new army in the south and dealt with them. By the time I was done, there would be no doubt of who was the best. Those vampires who whispered of this new threat would know that there was no other who could match myself.

I paced the ground trying to figure out where to go next when I heard Peter speak up. "I think we should go check out Maria's old camp," he said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Fine, Fucker," I grumbled as I continued to pace the area around me. I wasn't even going to attempt to figure out what what he knew.

I had to find my mate before something or someone harmed her. _I would find her, conquer her, and make her mine,_ I thought as a sly smirk crossed my lips. I had had many women in my day but none compared to my mate and I already knew that. I swore, the day I left that place in Forks I would find her and I wasn't going to wait.

"Come on, Major, you can come back and stay with us. We need to plan before we just waltz into their camp. I don't think the three of us have a death wish," I heard Charlotte whisper to me as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to face her. "No, we can fight whatever is thrown at us. We all know that so let's go pay this vampire a visit," I hissed feeling, the demon in me come to the surface as a smirk crossed my lips. I wasn't going to wait another day when it came to this "terror." I was going to take care of it and then go and find her; I knew it would be safer that way. I turned in the direction that I knew Maria's camp had been.

"Major, we can't go unprepared!" Charlotte exclaimed, trying to stop me.

I hissed at her, seeing Peter come up to my side. "We've fought newborns before. I'm sure we can handle these. It's not like anyone is around to train them," Peter laughed and with that I knew we had to just talk Charlotte to come with us.

**Newborn POV**

I smirked as I stared off into the distance. They would be coming soon; from what I'd heard, the major could never resist a challenge.

Now, it was just a matter of time before we found out who the better warrior was: the Major or the Queen of the South. I knew my queen could take the three of them out or if she wanted to, or we could. She had trained us well after she had taken out Maria. Now it was almost time to put those skills she taught us to use.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

**Queen of the South's POV**

I smirked as I walked through my camp, watching my minions train around me. They would always part for me whenever they were in the way, their senses tipped them off that I was closing in, in fear of my getting rid of them. They were too easy to control, all you needed was to instill a little fear in those around you. As the human saying goes, "Who needs friends when you have enemies?" You don't need people to trust you, they just have to fear you.

Maria thought that she could take control of me when she saw the weak human visiting Texas. To her, all humans were weak and defenseless creatures she could control by changing them into vampires to do her dirty work. She was nothing but a scared child, who wanted nothing more than to play in the big leagues. She thought that I would even be a good vampire to help keep the newborns in check with my ability. Of course, instead of only keeping the newborns in check, I slowly took over. Sure, I led her on for a bit, but after a while, I turned on my "Mistress", repaying her for taking me from my life, from my family.

"Mistress." I looked up to see Luca, one of my favorite newborns and a possibly permanent addition to my army. His ability to sneak around undetected by other vampires came in very handy.

"What information do you have for me about those nomads?" I questioned, my voice hard and cold just like my heart. I could see him quaking in his boots.

"Well?" He stared up at me with wide, fearful red eyes. My face softened as my fingers stroked his cheek comfortingly, moving his shaggy blond hair out of his face.

"Tell me."

"They...They're not alone," he sputtered out, his fear getting the best of him. "They're coming, and they're not alone."

I scoffed at that statement, no one could stand against me, not even the Volturi. Alec could still tell you this, if it was not for the fact that he was now nothing more than a pile of ash that I kept in a vile around my neck as a prize for my victory. They could send as many of their guard as they wished, but they would never, win against the Queen of the South and they knew it. Even the other armies in the south were depleting because of my work. In a way, I was doing the Volturi a favor by eliminating these other armies.

"Tell me," I quietly said, tilting his head to the side. My tongue moved across his cold, hard flesh, teeth scraping in warning of what was to come if I was not pleased. "Who is this other vampire?"

"T...The Major."

I snarled, shoving Luca away from me. He stumbled onto the ground in fear as my anger began to show. The vampires surrounding us began to cautiously move away in fear of what I would do to them. I was not one to calm down when I became enraged. Instead, I would take out one or two newborns to calm myself down. The monster inside of me loved when this happened, loved to take control of my body when I allowed it.

They were friends of the infamous Major, the one who Maria always compared us to when she was in charge. It was obvious that she had always been in lust with him, though there was no way that he had felt the same way, especially considering he had left. The major had always been believed to be nothing more than a scary story to tell newborns. However, I knew the truth. He was dangerous to anyone who stood in his way, not stopping until he had accomplished his goal.

The monster inside of me jumped at the thought of having the Major under my control, to do my bidding. As a matter of fact, why do my bidding when he could be my accomplice? We would be the most unstoppable army in the world, no vampire would ever consider coming within fifty yards of us. After all, he owed me a few favors, which I was sure he would be alright paying when he finally arrived.

"Where were they when you left?" I demanded. "Are they coming?"

Luca nodded, petrified of me just like he should be. "Th...they were arguing about coming up with a plan. The two males were siding against the female, to come strait away. They said that there was no one to train the newborns."

"Interesting," my voice was curious. "Did they say where they were headed?"

"M...Maria's old camp, Mistress."

"Very good, my pet," I muttered. "Now, get up." I turned to one of my generals. "Gather the best newborns. It's time to welcome the Major home to his old life."

I watched as my minions shifted through those who still needed more training and those who were the best. There were those I would be choosing as well, even if the generals didn't agree on them. I had my favorites as well and, if they didn't agree, no one would dare speak a word against me. They would never try the wrath of the Queen of the South, in fear that they would be killed without a second's hesitation.

"When do we move out?"

I smiled at that, knowing that it was cold and sadistic. "Right away." I turned to the group that had been assembled. "I don not care about the nomads. However, the major is not to be harmed, under any circumstances, unless it is by my hand. Do I make myself clear?" There were nods all around me; they knew better than to disagree. "Then let's move out."

**Jasper's POV**

We finally convinced Charlotte to go to Maria's without a well thought out plan. It was against her better judgment, but she was out numbered and out powered against both Peter and myself. We didn't need her agreement, but it was good to have it considering Peter would kill me if I tried to force his wife into something against her will. Even though we were all agreed, she was still hesitant on returning to the place where she had been part of Maria's army. I could feel the nervousness dripping off of them, but I couldn't deny that I was feeling nervous as well.

"Major," Peter spoke as we stood in the clearing, his voice full of worry. "It's a trap."

His goddamn ability to know things.

Before we could move an inch, we were surrounded by about twenty newborn vampires as well as three who were keeping them at bay. They weren't attacking us, which was confusing unto itself. This Mistress Bitch or whatever her name was should know better than to keep us waiting. Vampires in charge of the armies usually attacked first and asked questions later, especially if they were protecting their feeding grounds.

"Garrett?" My attention was caught at the sound of Charlotte's voice.

Glancing to my right, I saw the nomad that we had come across when I was first traveling, with my brother and his mate. He had been changed during the revolutionary war and had been determined to never be involved in war again. This was what was bothering me, he was a strong vampire, but something had to have happened to bring him back to this life.

"Peter, Charlotte," his voice was hard. "Major."

Suddenly, a laugh echoed around us as the newborns began to squirm. There was fear coming off every vampire that was surrounding us. They were petrified of this vampire, who was controlling them. It reached the point, where I could barely move from the pain of their fear. Whoever this vampire was was not someone to be messed with.

The laugh began again, which made my head snap up in the direction of it, where the newborns were parted. I knew that laugh, I had heard it before. It sounded completely different the last time I'd heard it. It was darker, colder than the last time, but it couldn't be her. She couldn't be there and she couldn't be that dark. As she stepped out of the trees, her crimson eyes locked on mine and, not for the first time, I wished that I had ripped Maria to pieces just before I had left her army.


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

_1 year, 6 months, 12 days, 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 6 seconds was how long it had been since I had seen a Cullen step foot in Forks and now it was my time to leave this small town. I applied to several place for college and got into most all of them. I had chosen the University of Texas at Dallas - it was the furthest away from this town I could go and the complete opposite of the weather in Forks - and was now sitting in my new apartment unpacking all my things._

_I still couldn't believe that they let Edward abandon me in the woods after that stupid pixie revealed her plots to keep me and Jasper apart. She practically told everyone that he and I were supposed to be together and they just left me. That meant that everything I had thought of them was a lie. Carlisle and Esme didn't think of me as their daughter, Emmett didn't think of me as a baby sister and Rosalie... well, she never liked me. I was nothing more than a pet, a toy that they could throw out when they became bored. _

_Well, I was done with vampires fucking up my life and I wasn't going to see any of them again. Although Jasper could come in and fuck up my life any time he wanted. He was probably the only Cullen I wanted to see again. Alice could be torn to pieces and burned and I could care less. As for Edward... I felt really bad for him, but after he abandoned me in the forest, he could take what I had been feeling for him about everything and shove them up his stone cold, granite white-  
_

_"Bella?" I was shaken out of my thoughts by Charlie. He, Renee, and Phil had all come to help me move into college. "Are you okay?"_

_"Peachy," I answered, smiling at him._

_They had all pitched in to help me get this awesome apartment. There were two other bedrooms if I ever wanted roommates, but I had a feeling that it would end up just being me using this place all though college. I just wanted to be on my own and forget absolutely everything that had happened since I moved to Forks._

_"Excuse me?" I heard a feminine voice quietly ask. "Could you use some help?"_

_I turned to see a girl, younger than me, standing in the doorway. She had on a green tube dress that fell down to her feet with a belt that wrapped around the middle. Her shoes were brown studded thong sandals that I had seen two days ago when I was out shopping with Renee. Her skin was pale and her hair was long and silky black. However, what made me stare at her were the crimson eyes that I knew so well._

_I couldn't breathe as I stared at her, fear consuming me. I had been so sure that I wouldn't come into contact with any vampires around here, at least not during they day. It was only noon and she was standing there in the doorway. She was here to kill all of us and no one would know any better. I had to get Charlie out of here before she could do anything. I wouldn't let my parents get hurt._

_"Charlie?" I finally spoke up, regaining my voice. "Why don't you go and see where Renee and Phil are? They should be back by now."_

_Charlie nodded and slipped out of the apartment, past the girl who just let him go. That was odd, but I didn't think anything of it. As long as my parents were safe, that was all that mattered to me._

_"What's your name?" the girl asked, smiling as she walked into the apartment and right up to me._

_"Bella," I stated, not wanting to show her any fear._

_She smiled reaching up to touch my face. I pulled away defiantly, making her laugh. "Oh, Bella, you are wonderful. You're the one moving in?"_

_"Who wants to know?" I asked, not knowing why I was trying to irritate her.  
_

_She laughed again. "You're spunky. It's too bad you and I can't be friends."_

_"Like I would want to be friends with a vampire."  
_

_I froze as soon as the words came out, shocked by the word vomit that had just fallen from my mouth. I had just admitted to knowing that she was a vampire, she was going to kill me now. I knew that it was against vampire law for humans to know about them and I had just proven that someone had broken that law. There was no way to escape this anymore. My life would be over in a matter of seconds like it should have been from that very first day in Biology that I had come across Edward._

_"And how do you know what I am?" she asked, grabbing my hand. I tried to pull away, but she was too strong. All trying to escape did was hurt me more. "Who have you come across that told you?"_

_"No one," I stated, trying to pull away from her. "Let me go."_

_She grabbed my finger and yanked it back, causing me to scream out as the bone broke in two. "Who told you?" I glared at her, determined not to say anything. She broke another bone, making me scream again. "Who told you?"_

_"E-Edward..." I choked out. "Edward C-Cullen." Tears slid down my cheeks as I collapsed to the ground. "Please, ju-just kill me."_

_"Cullen, hmm?" she asked, smiling as she knelt down and licked my neck. I tried to pull away, but I couldn't bring myself to. "Well, this just became more interesting. I'll make you a deal. I'll help you get revenge on that poor boy who left you." I stared up at her. "In exchange, you have to help me. I'm afraid that I have a problem with some other vampires. Your newborn strength will be very helpful."  
_

_I stared up at her with tear filled eyes. "All of them?" I asked, not quite sure why I was contemplating her offer. "His entire family?"_

_She nodded, tilting her head to the side. "We'll take revenge on all of them."_

_"What about my parents?" I wondered, staring up at her. "They stay safe."_

_She laughed at that. "Sorry, lovely, but they are already gone." She lifted my hand that James had bitten and surveyed it. "Well, this is unusual. Oh well."_

_With that, she bit down on my wrist, causing the fire to begin consuming me._

I continued to stare at the three in front of me, wondering what I was going to do with them. Of course, the male vampire that wasn't the Major pretty much sealed his fate by saying, "No way, Queen of the Bitches is your mate?"


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

_"No way. Queen of the Bitches is your mate?"_

My head snapped to the male vampire, a snarl ripping from my throat. The Major was no mate of mine, I just wanted to prove that I was stronger than he was. It would be easy to disarm him, especially with my ability. He would never know what hit him and then, I could make him submit him to my will. He would be my perfect little pet and I would be even more unstoppable, able to take on anyone who tried to stop or challenge me. I could feel my army anxiously waiting for my signal that they could attack and take care of the vampires. Of course, they would only be going after the other two. Like I said, the major was mine and mine alone. He was nothing special, I could take care of him with one had behind my back.

"You knew that we were coming," The Major accused, narrowing his eyes at me. "How did you know?"

I motioned for Luca to step forward and he came right next to me so I could play with his hair. The three vampires were staring in confusion at my actions, they had obviously never seen a newborn so well behaved. I couldn't help but smile as I explained.

"Luca here, has a special ability, Major. He can mask his scent from vampires, making him untraceable. He's my special boy."

"What about Garrett?" the small blonde that reminded me so much of that bitch demanded. I was ready to yank her head off and toss it into a fire. "How did you get him?"

I laughed at that, my tone cold and sarcastic.

"Just in the wrong place at the right time." I stepped forward, getting hisses from the female. "You know, I would rip your pretty head off by your hair, but I think I have a better idea."

Before I could move, I could feel the major sending out lethargic waves towards all the newborns, causing them to calm down. _Maria had definitely been right about one thing,_ I thought as I watched this unfold. _The Major's power was like anything I had ever witnessed._ He would truly bring destruction wherever he went.

I walked towards the three vampires, knowing that it would be three against one. Now, that wasn't fair in a normal fight, except the wars were anything but normal. The sun shown down, casting off of our skin and causing our skin to shine like diamonds. It didn't matter to me if a human saw us, the Volturi wouldn't complain as long as they didn't tell anyone. And believe me, whatever human was stupid enough to cross my path would not live long enough to even realize what it was he had seen.

The Major stepped forward, his posture challenging, knowing full well what I wanted. This would be a battle between the two strongest vampires in the world and there would only be one victor-the loser would submit to the winner's will.

"You don't have to do this," The Major said, staring at me warily. "I just wish to speak with you."

I growled at him. "You brought this on yourself, Major." He continued to stare at me, not turning his attention to anything else. "You could have remained in the wars and been the best. You could be my partner and together we could rule this entire world."

"She has the 'take over the world' evil villain thing down," I heard the male vampire mutter.

I couldn't help but smile at how true that statement was. I wanted to take over the Volturi, they didn't deserve to rule and they had lost one of their best guards to me.

"I'll make you a deal." I stared at The Major, not blinking-not that we needed to blink anyways. "If you win, I'll join you. However, if I win you will listen to what I have to say and you will join myself."

I nodded, agreeing to what was probably the stupidest deal I had ever made. The others, newborns and older vampires alike, moved out of our way, afraid of being caught in the crossfire of they battle. There was nothing to stop us from destroying the world with this battle, although I didn't think that having half my army destroyed was a good idea. Then again, if this was how it had to be, perhaps my little hostage would be caught in the crossfire.

Ah, my little hostage. I smiled just thinking about all the torture I loved to put her through. She thought that she could get away with taking me from my family, but she made the mistake of coming too close. The Mistress of the South didn't like being played, even when I was human, I didn't like it but now I could take her on and make her pay for what she had done.

"Be careful, Major," the male vampire called. "She's powerful."

_No shit, asshole. How else would I be able to rule the south?_

I smiled at The Major, waiting for him to attack first. I wasn't going to be stupid, that was the first thing that Maria had taught us. _Don't make the first move._ He, of course, wasn't moving either. He may have had more experience, but he was rusty from not being in the wars for years. There was nothing to stop me from killing him except for the assistance he would bring to my army.

"This is what you've become?" he questioned as we circled around each other. "You were the one who always insisted that we weren't monsters, yet you are the worst kind. Even worse than Maria or the Volturi."

I snarled before attacking him. He easily dodged my attack, smirking as I hissed. "Don't you _ever_, compare me to them."

"You should be afraid, _Mistress_," he sneered, getting another attack from me.

This time, however, I successfully tackled him to the ground. My teeth snapped at his throat as he held me at bay. There was this small part in my mind that was telling me that I couldn't hurt him. It was annoying, but the closer I got to harming him, the bigger that part of my mind was becoming. Something was keeping me from harming him and it was beginning to piss me off.

"_Why can't I hurt you?_" I screamed at him as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.

He lifted me up so my legs were flailing and I couldn't do anything else. I had two options, I could either surrender or... before he could make another move, I slammed one of my legs back between his two, my heel digging into him. He released his grip on me, allowing me to pull away.

"How was that, _Major?_"

He growled at me as a guilty feeling washed over me. It wasn't artificial so it obviously wasn't The Major's doing, these emotions were all mine. He wouldn't use his ability against me, but that didn't mean that I couldn't use mine against him. All I needed was just a bit of one of those abilities that one of my vampires that followed me. Quickly, I scanned through my memory of which vampires were here and which had abilities. There were only five with me who had abilities and four of them were all defensive. The one that was offensive, I couldn't dare use since even I didn't understand that one. I wasn't sure what the two other vampires' abilities were so I couldn't use them. The last choice was... The Major.

I smiled at him sweetly as I felt his ability coursing through my body. I had my own strange ability, which had made me so precious to Maria and so formidable to my opponents. I could borrow abilities of other vampires around me. It wasn't as powerful as the original and it didn't last for long, but it gave me at least some edge because they never expected it.

Suddenly, the anger and fear of the twenty newborns who were with me started to come to me. I couldn't focus, I couldn't control this new ability and I had yet to figure out how to shove the ability away. I dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms around myself, trying to control it. This was worse than when _they_ had allowed _him_ to abandon me in the forest. Worse than that stupid boy who claimed to be my _friend_ left me for those other boys he was always hanging around. Worse than finding out that my parents had been killed because of my interaction with _them._

"No," I heard a voice say. It was Garrett's and he was standing directly in front of me. "She must figure this out on her own."

The Major's snarl was heard. "Get. Away. From. My. Mate."

Garrett, the bastard, moved out of the way as The Major walked over to me and knelt down, sweeping my hair away from my face. He had a pained look on his face as he brushed his fingers against my cheek, whispering.

"I'll take you down, Miss Swan. Don't forget that I am the Major. You may be mine, but I will stop you."


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: And we're back! This is the only place we will be posting updates. Big thanks to Lady Tazz who pre-read and Jasper's Sex Kitten, who beta'd! Don't forget to follow our twitter Jaspers_SC.**

**CHAPTER 5**

I watched as emotions from every newborn and vampire around us were thrust out by my mate. If I hadn't had this ability for over a century, I would have been overloaded with all the emotions that were being projected. She may be my mate, but I would allow her to be drained by the emotions so I could talk to her easier.

"Isabella," I purred as I knelt down beside her. "I'll take you down, Miss Swan. Don't forget that I am the Major. You may be mine, but I will stop you." I pushed a strand of hair back from her face to look at her as I stood up, . I turned on my heels , looking at Peter and Char. "Let's go," I mumbled, ducking my head, and sighing.

"Wait," I heard her croak, turning back to see her staring at me with blackened eyes. "You won't get far, Major. You'll join me. This is my home now."

I knew she was being honest; I could hear the sincerity in her voice but I still had a choice. I was simply going to come and visit each day until she finally decided she trusted me enough to come with me . I could fight her, but that was not what I had to do. I knew the pain that she dealt with - I may not know it all but I knew enough - she was never given a chance to grieve for her parents' death and now she was running the southern armies with a gift that was like none other.

Peter and Char walked back to the hotel while I went to open the house that had been closed off for over a century. It was the first house I bought after I left Maria. I never brought Alice to it - she never understood why I wanted to be a simple man. I put up the show for her because I thought what we had was real as well. Little did I know, she was just doing what Maria did and using me as her puppet.

The more I thought about my past with Maria and Alice, the angrier I became. I couldn't believe I fell for it, not once but twice.

I walked up the front steps of the house that I had not visited in years. Nothing had changed. I had hired someone to keep the outside neat so weeds and such would not grow up around the house. It wasn't overly large house I never needed it when I left Maria, it was always just me.

I pulled the key out of my pocket to unlock the door and walked inside. I couldn't believe how long it had been since I had come back. This house didn't hold any memories, but out of all the homes I owned, this one had been my favorite. I knew I needed to make some updates to it but that was going to be a different day. A day when I wasn't worried about my mate and her safety. Even if she was the one leading the army.

I sat down on the chair in the living room and buried my face in my hands. I didn't know how I would get her to leave the camp, but I knew I had to. I went through every fight I had ever had with a new born, every possible way I could take her down. I knew Peter and Char could take care of all her newborn vampires. That I knew wouldn't be a problem.

I sighed, standing up and pacing the living room. I had to go back to that camp without my brother and sister, even though I knew I needed a plan and to talk to Peter to figure it out.

I turned to walk out the door, but not before I saw my old stetson hanging on its hook. I picked it up, all my memories of the wars coming back to me: of how I left Maria and everything else that had happened before I left this house. That's when it hit me as I put my hat on; I had to make a plan and I had to have my brothers help. I shook my head, knowing that nothing good would come out of making a plan but headed for Peter and Char's hotel anyways.

I walked up the stairs to the hotel room and opened the door. Char was packing their belongings and Peter was studying a map.

"Pete we have to find a way to get her out of there. I need to help her," I sighed, flopping down into the chair.

"What did ya have in mind, Major? Honestly, she seems like a bitch."

I let out a growl as he called her a bitch. "Knock it off, Peter. I don't talk shit about your mate, you don't shit about mine. Now, how can I get her out of this place?"

I was seething. I wanted her out of this role. I wanted the wars that started so long ago, to be over for good. I knew if we could get her out of that camp, I could help her.

"Relax Major, I was just fucking with you." he slapped my shoulder "I'm thinking you go in, pretending you just want to talk to her and once she agrees you knock out the whole camp, then carry her out. Char and I will kill her newborns."

I chuckled, "That's your grand plan? You really think that is going to work on her? For god sakes Peter, she fucking took out Maria! She's not going to be that easy!"

He nodded in agreement. "I think you should let me go and try and talk to her," Char piped in.

Peter and I looked at each other before looking at Char, both saying the same thing, "NO!"

I sighed, running my hand over my face. "I have two options guys, the one you suggested Peter or I have to actually physically fight her."

Peter chuckled, "You think you can take on that woman, Major? She's obviously got a good fight in her."

"No I don't, Peter, so that's why we are going to take the easy route in this one. We'll do what you suggested."

I sighed, standing up. "But first, let's get back to the house and make sure all our shit is situated to do this."

We walked back to the house, no one saying a word. When we got back we sat out on the steps of the porch making a quick plan, nothing elaborate, just something quick. We all knew that we would defeat her.

I smirked thinking of how she would react to what was about to happen. She didn't have a mind reader, not that I knew of at least, so she wouldn't be prepared at all. Her newborns seemed trained but not that well. So I knew we could do this. We had years of experience on them. I looked at Peter and Char before standing up.

"Let's get this shit done. I don't want to fuck around with this much longer," I grumbled as I walked down the stairs.

They followed behind me before taking off in to the woods. We had decided that it would be best to take out the newborns first before I went to carry her out of her camp. I stood at the tree line as I watched my brother and his mate take out the newborns as quietly as they could as a small smirk played across my face. She was in for the shock of her life.


End file.
